Persona X
by Adachi362
Summary: Emile Wright, Ace Bore, is a shy kid. A shy kid who has to protect the town from evil monsters called Shadows by wielding a spiritual representation of his inner self called a Persona, and also with the help of other misfits like him who also have Personas, but a shy kid none the less.
1. Chapter 1:Day 1

A leisurely stroll.

That's how it began- in both ways you look at it- with a leisurely stroll to school.

I was walking. Just looking at the ground. I never met anyone on my route, until the intersection of Baker street and Skellington Drive. I'd been down this route so many times, I'd memorised it completely. It made things pretty convenient for me. I'm the type of person who has a LOT of thoughts, and needs time to process all of them. This time I was focused on a specific thought. Why was I late to class yesterday?

"What is this slimy thing?"

I simply couldn't remember why, but I'd been about 20 minutes late to class, which isn't something that happens very often. Weirdest of all, I had no idea what happened.

"Get away from it!"

Another thought that kept popping up, though I'm not sure why. I had a dream.

"What is that?"

I think I was walking, just as usual….and then-

"This is what I'm going to use to kill that thing, now get out of the way!"

I witnessed a fight. Yeah, that was it.

"It-it's gone. No-not even a body. Who are you? What was that?"

I think the dream was…...20 minutes...but, I mean-

"I can answer both questions at once. David. But this one prefers to be called Apollo."

There's no way it could have been real…..I mean, the sky changed, all the people froze in place and got those weird masks, and they're skin...and their behavior, and- Nevermind, it doesn't matter, it was just a nightmare.

"Look….chances are, you'll want to ignore everything that happened. You'll want to pretend it was all nightmare. But you can't. You have the potential. That means that you'll keep being pulled into this world, whether you like it or not."

I look up and see the city intersection. There's never that many cars this early. Almost everyone's working. Besides, while we've got some fancy tall buildings, the city of Blackwater isn't too well known, and is surprisingly quite. Some people come here on vacation to experience the quiet of the countryside, while not feeling too out of place. Honestly, it just feels boring.

"First off, what is the potential? And seconds, how is this another world? And, how is that thing you,, it looks look nothing like you!"

I stood on the intersection, looking both way, trying to wrap my head around my dream. My dream. That's all it was. Nothing more nothing less. I don't even remember the last thing the boy said to me-

"Well, he's…..my persona….."

Dammit.

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Yesterday, I…..I woke up late. That's what happened. I then made my way here….um oddly calmly, then got to this intersection, then the sky got dark, I mean…..that's when I realised that none of the others I usually see on this route are gone. That's because I was late, and they were at school.

Back in the present, somebody tapped me on the firmly tapped my shoulder. I panicked, a million thoughts rushing through my head at once. Most of them were simply: HOLY HELL IT WAS REAL! I spun around to come face to chest with a cop. Anticlimactic, I know, but it's the truth.

"Hey kid," The man spoke, "Do you think you could need an escort to school. With all of those people with Apathy Syndrome…...and well...I mean, there was that video from the internet…" His voice trailed off as he looked to his lower left. He then glanced back up at me for a second. "You've seen it, right?"

I shook my head, "I'm gonna have to say no to that, actually," I replied, as it was the truth.

The officer pursued his lips and shook his head. He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a white Iphone 6. Show off. He tapped a few buttons and then turned it back to me. It was a youtube video, only about 2 minutes.

The video depicted a boy, taller than most, but not a giant. With blond hair, so light it was almost white, that wasn't well kept, he look at the ground. His clothes were nothing short of boring. A grey hoodie, grey sweatpants, and white sneakers.

He muttered nonsense to himself. Well, what would be nonsense to most people's. To me, it just my day….even more nonsensical. Yeah the boy was muttering to himself, "What is this slimy thing?" "I-it changed?" etc.

Yeah, that was me. Emile Wright. Yes I've heard all the jokes. Emile Wright: Ace Bore. Emile Wright:Normality for All. Ace Bore:Grey and Normalisation. But, I liked it boring. Thing is, if you show off, that's how you get targeted. So I really do think it's best to just try and fade into the background.

Anyway, the cop tapped the screen of the phone, and revealed the title to be, 'Apathy Syndrome Victim Talking!'. That's something I should have explained earlier, isn't it? Well, it started several years ago. It was big here, but comes with being in a place so small, we only get recognition for this on Top Ten Weirdest Epidemic's videos. The thing was called Apathy Syndrome. No one has been able to determine exactly what it is, or what causes it. People just stopped caring. Not to a normal extent, or just plain laziness. They just froze in their tracks. Then, they just, go about life, without a care in the world, other than walls. Walls, and breathing. Also, eating and drinking.

They just kind of wander around until they get near a wall. Then they change direction. When they get hungry or thirsty, they down the nearest thing that can quench their needs. Not in an asshole way, or an animalistic way. They just sort of…..eat it. Don't even sit down for tea. Oh, and when I say 'walls' that doesn't include anything else. These….things…..have died every way imaginable. Car crashes, walking straight into a construction vehicle, falling into an open manhole, you name it.

I look up and see the defender of the public trying to stifle a laugh.

"Really?" I give him a weirded out look.

"So-sorry it's just. Slimy things…..".

"Screw you!" I yell, for the world to hear.

That's how I learned that offending an officer of the law is a felony, as well as how I wound up late for school two days in a rows, one day resulted in me going viral, and the second resulted in me rising to school in the back of a police car.

He let me off right outside the school with a warning. Thought, it was right when the gym class happened to be running past the front door of the grey 2 story building of Blackwater High, so I can't say that nobody thinks that I killed some stray dog. What can I say? False or not, word travels fast around here.

I walked through the front doors into the empty appearing building. It was quite, but only because everyone was in their classrooms, like good little children, who have not been flipping a police officer the bird.

I walked down the empty hallways, glancing in all the windows. I noticed some spot me, and send me worried glances. I also saw a few snickers. Most ignored me. I do try my best.

I recognised almost every face. After years of being alone, you start to pick up a talent for eavesdropping. Most swam right by my vision, not much to take notice of. But there was one face in particular. I didn't notice at first when I saw it. I had to walk a few feet, before it hit me like a truck. That was him. The same slicked back, black hair. This same white tee and black overcoat. The same blue eyes. Most likely the same name. David.

I stopped in surprise. A million MORE thoughts began running through my head at a rapid pace. What the hell is going on? That phrase sums it up perfectly. But...I was late as it was. It would be stupid to try and go back for another look, with everyone watching.

I kept walking until I reached my classroom. I snuck in with the teacher facing the board. Good hour to show up. The teacher was that perfect balance of strict and not strict. He didn't care that you fucked up. But you fucked up, so you're still getting the thing that says your fucked up.

I took my seat, and immediately zoned out. I decided to man up and face reality no matter how unrealistic it is. I'd have to sit and think about everything that happened yesterday.


	2. Chapter 2:Day 0

I woke up earlier than usual. Well….it was technically usual for me at this time of month. I changed into my school clothes and left my shabby apartment. Without saying goodbye to anyone. There was no one to say bye too.

I stopped at the counter, and asked for the mail. I was running low on foodstuffs, I could really use my check. I flipped through the letters until I saw that eagle with the fancy marks on it. It's wings going to either side, looking to the left.

I smiled at the discovery of my little treasure, and looked up to thank the little, curly haired, pudgy woman who happened to be attending the apartment building's front desk at the time. But, she just gave me a worried look, her gaze going between me and something behind me.

I turned around slowly and immediately saw what she was looking at. A figure was pacing around, mindlessly. Their face was grey and showed no emotion. It was a woman with blonde (almost white hair). She walked up to a wall, and then changed direction.

I guess I should consider myself…..lucky? In such a big town….it's a wonder….my mother managed to find her way back home, though it's impossible she did intentionally. I remember the day it happened...it was four years ago. We weren't doing anything special, just window shopping down main street, when both my parents went pale at the same time.

Then, they just walked around the house, without a care in the world. I called 911, and the cops showed up immediately. From there it was a blur. All I can remember is continuous adults getting all up in my face, saying stuff like "it's going to be alright,". My parents were good as dead. LIke hell it was going to be fine.

I got put under the local government's care plan, for minors whose guardians suffer from Apathy Syndrome. Though, I have to say it's not much of a program. The government pays me to not to turn Apathy Syndrome into Worldwide news.

I turned back to the lady at the front desk, "Hey, fi you could just keep the mail in my box for now, or better yet, if a bellhop has some free time, than give it him to send upstairs or something…" I nodded and waited for a response. It took about….10 seconds longer to get one than it should have.

"Oh- uh- yeah, okay…", the woman stumbled through her words, most likely shocked on how casual I sounded. Thought it's nothing to be shocked about. Death is death. Well, in this case, being completely oblivious to the world around is being completely oblivious to the world around you.

Leaving my mail with the desk lady, and saying a quick goodbye to my mother, I began making my merry little way down to the school building. It was close enough to walk anyway. I looked around took in the sights. Took in the faces of the few others who were walking down their path. A brunette guy wearing headphones. A set of red haired twins. A black haired girl walking prim and proper. A more rotund individual readjusting his glasses.

I admired some building, watched some birds fight, saw the sky darken. Eh? This is where the thing I thought was a nightmare begins. It was actually, legitimately the second I hit the intersection. I wasn't exactly "all there" at the moment, so it took me a second to notice. First thing that came to my attention. The quite. Nothing made any noise. Except, far away, I heard.. I guess the word would be…...groans, I guess? I stopped and began panicking, trying to find what caused all the people to stop speaking. I saw no people. I just saw….what looked like humans.

The THINGS skin was...a dark purple. They wore masks depicting many kinds of false emotions. They trudged along, pulling themselves along. They were like zombies. None seemed to notice me, or anything around me for that matter.

Another groan. This one louder than the ones before. Right behind me. I turned quickly with a shout.

Something was on the ground. It was a puddle of purple liquid. The same shade as the skin of the not-people. It has arms sticking out of the top, and the same kind of mask floating on it. It groaned some more, before the mask moved itself to where it could directly look at me. We locked… "eyes?", for a few seconds.

"What is this slimy thing?" I yelled to no one. The puddle seemed to want to answer that question for me. It writhed around hypnotically, until it exploded into black smoke. I closed my eyes and coughed, now unaware of my surroundings, taking in the horrible smell of the smoke. It was a full minute before I could open my eyes again.

A ten foot tall behemoth stood before me. A giant grey skinned best, with green markings all over it's body. It had, strangely enough, the head of…..Hulk Hogan, but with green hair, grey skin, and a mask, same as the one on the puddle, covering it's eyes.

I stood in awe of the beast, as with another groan, It began to raise a fist above it's head. Just when it began to bring the hand down, a voice called from somewhere unseen.

"Get away from it!".

A boy, with slicked back black hair, wearing a black button up shirt, and fancy jeans jumped in front of me. At the same time, as white giant, just as tall as the beast pushed the creature away. The new giant looked….not completely together. Miscellaneous body parts, adorned white and gold, floated seemingly with no effort. All the spaces in between the random parts were connected through massive amounts of flame.

A gold belt went diagonally across the chest, despite the flaming gaps. In it's hands it held a staff over on the right, and some kind of giant sized dagger in the left.

"What is that?" I screamed.

The boy turned back to me and yelled, "That's what I'm gonna use to kill that thing, now get outta the way!".

I looked up confused, just in time to see the guy dive about 5 feet to the right as the warrior dropped his weapons, and grabbed the best by it's waist. It wrestler-style threw Hulk Hogan at me.

"Idiot...Apollo, help him!" The black haired student screamed. The warrior in turn, grabbed his sword and, with a downward thrust, impaled the grey wrestler before it could hit me. Though, honestly, scarier than the beast, is the fact that the sword passed right through the stomach of the creature, and nearly sliced my head in half. The blade stopped 2 inches from my nose.

It whipped around and tossed the abomination in the opposite direction.

"Apollo, in sync!" The boy jumped back to his partner's side, as the warrior summoned his staff to his side.

The giant held the staff perpendicular to the ground, and held his dagger blade like an arrow. He lined the weapons up into a bow and arrow position.

At the same exact time, reached into his jeans' pocket and pulled out a revolver and a single bullet. He aimed the gun towards the ground as he loaded it, and then aimed it at the behemoth with two hands.

At the front of both weapons, immense energy gathered into an orb. "Ready?...Now!" The boy fired his weapon, completely in sync with the knight releasing his "arrow". Both the bullet and the arrow passed through their respective orbs, becoming engulfed in flame. Still in sync, the two projectiles smashes into the best, causing a fiery explosion.

When the smoke cleared, nothing remained. I ran up examine the charred ground. "N-not even a body….Who are you? What is that?" I pointed at the gold wearing, white creature.

He smirked and spoke to me, "I can answer both questions at once. David. But this one prefers Apollo." He turned, as Apollo faded into blue light. His expression then faded into one far more grim. "Look….chances are, you'll want to ignore everything that happened. You'll want to pretend it was all nightmare. But you can't. You have the potential. That means that you'll keep being pulled into this world, whether you like it or not.".

I was clearly flabbergasted, "First off, what is the potential? And second, how is this another world? And, how is that thing you, it looks look nothing like you!".

The boy gave a light smile, "Well….he's….my Persona…". The second the words left his mouth, a large BOOM came from somewhere halfway across the city. "Damn. I'm gonna take care of this!", he then ran off, leaving me dazed and confused.

The world returned to normal, the purple people reverted to normal, their masks dissipating. Than, it was like time sped up, as if skipping the entirety of the past 20 minutes. From there, it was nothing but a panicked run to school.


	3. Hercules

It wasn't long before I found I found myself waking up to a 'soothing' alarm clock…. "Wake up, Wright!" accompanied with an ache that quickly enveloped my upper body, beginning in the back of neck. My eyes snapped open as I took in the changes in my surroundings. Everyone had left, and I still sat here, gazing upon a hulking mass of a teacher, who also happened to be holding a ruler.

"Is that even legal?!" I yell.

"Anything is legal when there are no cops around!" he says as he, once again, hits me over the head with the ruler. "Now get out of the school go on get!" He then began to repeatedly hit me with his ruler. "Go on, ya varmint!"

"This doesn't even make sense!" I scream as I run from the school. It's a blur from there, or at least until I reach a telephone line. I lean over to catch my breath, supporting myself by placing hand on the telephone pole.

I looked up, to see where I was at. The intersection. The same one from yesterday. And it was the same way…..

I jump in shock as I look upward, and witness the fact that the sky had become an inky black. "No….no…..no…." I shake my head while pouting, "I thought this day couldn't get any worse!"...Well. I spoke too soon.

I feel something long, wide and cold run it's way along my back. I fell to the ground, grossed out. I look on my back and see that it's coated in what appeared to be saliva. "Wha-What the hell is going on?" I scream in vain hope that someone will help me. I look up, and three creatures floated there. white orbs with zebra stripes with gigantic mouths slot in front of me, their tongues hanging out.

"You again?!" I hear a voice call from the right. I turn to see David standing in shock. "Hey, pay attention!"

"What?" I scream as I come face to face with the monster tongue. It wraps the pink mass around me.

In a whoosh, I'm flying through the air. At that moment, my life flashed before my eyes. Eye could see the ground below me, getting farther away. In a few seconds it be getting a LOT closer. Eyes closed my eyes to brace myself. Than it all stopped. All at once.

But, there was a feeling in my gut that wouldn't go away. I was still airborne, yet somehow I sat still. I slowly opened my eyes.

My eyes were immediately assaulted by a bright light. It I turned away from the brightness and came face to face with an oval shaped window. The inky blackness that existed outside startled me. I jumped up and looked to where I'd been sitting. A couch. A leather couch. I looked from side to side. More inky black oval windows, amidst white walls. From the my couch, on the left, there was a small half cabinet filled with many different types of drinks. On the right, sinks. I turned around, to see that the room was square. My couch took up about three-fourths of the wall, and a door took up the last part. I then turned around to see the most important part.

A table with a blue tablecloth stood unmoving. Behind it, also unmoving another couch, this one taking up the entire wall behind it. Atop the table, unmoving, a set of blue cards. Most disturbingly, two other things unmoving. An old, old, old man, staring straight at me, though his eyes here so cloudy, I couldn't tell. This man was, like, at least forever.

Next to him, a girl no more than ten, her eyes a bright yellow, hey hair stark white. She wore a blue dress, and aimlessly stared out the window. She held a clipboard with both hands.

"Why don't you have a seat on the couch…?" The suddenly broken silence terrified me. More so the voice. The same voice you imagine to be slow, and confused out of sheer loss of memory, was cheery and upbeat, with a thick layer of mystery underneath it all.

I nodded and sat on the leather couch. "So, this is your...limo right? Are you rich or, something?" I awkwardly ask.

"I think you'd better take a closer look out the window…" The man gestured to the nearest glass pane.

I wordlessly got up, and with shaky steps, approached the black oval. I knelt down and looked out, trying to spot anything weird. Then, I look to the side, and see the sheer size of the "limo", and the white protrusion from it's side.

I stand up, "So this is a pane?"

"You're quite right, my boy. Now sit down, we have much to discuss…" I nod and plop myself down on the leather surface.

"Now, for introductions. I am Igor. This is my assistant, Mabella. Mabella, say hello," He motioned to the child.

She quickly turned to me with wide eyes and a massive smile. Her voice was surprisingly hoarse and raspy. "Hello, human," she says.

"Now tell me, do you believe in fortune telling? Specifically, that of the tarot?". He brings his hand above the table and moved his hands around the table as if looking for a specific card. He stopped at one. He flipped it over. The other side of the card featured a picture of a tower being broken in two by lightning, as two humans fell to the ground below. "The Tower for the past. Something bad happened to you a while back, yes?"

He goes back to the cards. He flips over another one. A picture of a man in a blue robe, holding a ball of flame. "Your near future is represented by the Magician. This symbolises the beginning of a journey. This proves my theory. You do indeed have the potential,".

Once more. A picture of a jester, walking casually off a cliff. "Most importantly, the present is represented by the Fool. You are malleable. It seems you've discarded most of yourself along with your parents.".

He flipped the cards back over and sat back upright in his chair. "So, I understand that there's something you need right now. I can lend it to you, as long as you promise to bring it back. Mabella?"

The girl dropped herself from the other couch, and carried her clipboard to me. She held it out.

It was a contract. A lot of words I was too lazy to read. "Simply sign on the dotted line. All you're agreeing to do is to give back our give when the time comes…". She handed me a pen.

I held the pen in one hand. I wearily scanned the paper. I had no idea what it is that I 'needed'. "If you don't accept it, you'll die," Mabella says.

I sharply inhale and begin to scribble my name onto the paper. She took both from my hand. "Thank you," she nods. Mabella turns and goes back to her spot on the couch.

"Now, we give you our gift. Just remember, unlike your future teammates, you'll have to either give it back or pay us….in full,". He picked up the card for the fool, and held it face up in the palm of his hand. It began to float towards the ceiling. Then, in a snap, it turned, tha blue back facing me.

The card flew towards me, until it stopped, right in front of my heart. It floated there for what seemed like forever. It began to glow with a blue light. It flashed so brightly, that even when I closed my eyes to shield myself, it was just like looking at an open, cloudless sky.

The view of perfect weather faded, and I opened my eyes. The card still sat there, glowing, and I floated, back exactly where I was. Above the street, flying through the sky. I began screaming as the ground came flying at me at a rapid pace.

Then, it all stopped. The ground slowed down. It took a second for me to realise that in a blink of an eye, I went from cannonball to feather. I managed to reorganize myself, as if swimming, so that I may land on my feet.

The card still floated there, inches away from my heart. I panted heavily as I looked up, taking in the image of my attackers. I looked over to the side, to see David, now with a look of utter shock. "B-but, there-there wasn't a human shadow! I thought-". My eyes went wide as I heard a voice in my head.

"I art thou. Thou art I. When thou is in danger of falling to the shadows call upon me,", a deep. Masculine voice rang through my mind.

It was almost as if time had slowed down. The card made the last few inches in a millisecond. The area in front of my heart emitted the same tone of blue light. But, I couldn't pay attention to it. I had no urge to run, fight, scream, or do anything except utter the word that managed to wedge its way deep into my mind.

"Per…" The light over my heart grew brighter, "...so…" The light surrounded me, "...na…", the light warped itself into a mass of blue flames that gave off no heat. I felt a sudden surge of power burst threw me, and then leave, as if literally exiting my body. But I felt something tugging at my heart, urging it upwards. I looked up and gazed upon another giant. A man with blue skin floated above me. He wore gladiator like armor that was adorned in gold. He looked down at me, and I my eyes locked with two glowing purple lights. It's helmet made a Y-shape so think that I couldn't see it's face.

"What? I don't...Dude….A-attack!" David pointed at the creatures.

"Yea-yeah!... Um... , go! That's awful name isn't it?" The man held out it's right hand, and in a flash of light a sword appeared. flew forward and grabbed one of the creatures. He threw it to the ground and raised his the sword above his head. "Finish it off, um, Gold Armor Requiem?" I awkwardly asked as he brought down his sword, causing the monster to dissipate into black smoke.

"Now do that one, Captain Rome….?". My persona thrusted his sword directly through the mouth of another creature. It swung its sword towards the final creature, and the second beast slid off the blade and collided with its compatriot. The second beast faded away. "Yeah, you do it….Colliseum clasher!".

The final mouth orb shook itself from side to side, and began to fly towards my partner. "That's it. Simple elegant...Yeah….Blast him to high heavens...Hercules!"

Hercules stretched his right-sword hand to his left side, then just when the creature was right in front of him, he let loose. The creature seemingly lost control, and feel to the ground before disappearing to the void. The voice echoed in my head again, "Call upon me again when you face further danger,". Hercules faded into blue light.

A wave of exhaustion swept over me, and I feel to my hand and knees. David, who's been spectating on the whole fight ran up to me. He bent over and offered me his hand. "Hey, you okay?".

"Yeah," I say as I allow him to help me up. He immediately turns and starts walking down the road.

"Come on, follow me. We're going to my place,", he gestures for me to follow.

"Where exactly is your place?" I ask as I run to catch up.

"Just the biggest building on the edge of town, why?"

"Wha-? You don't mean-! What kind of idiot live in an abandoned warehouse full of ruined machines?"

He reached into his black button up and pulls out the gun from yesterday. He spins the chamber once. "Call me an idiot again, and you lose a toe, now FOLLOW. ME,".

"Okay, okay!" I timidly follow.


End file.
